Romney Must Get Past Himself to Beat Gingrich: Margaret Carlson

Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney’s troubles bring to mind
a pop-psychology bestseller from a few years ago called “He’s
Just Not That Into You.” Romney has endured rejection all year.
Even the inadequate Herman Cain and the orange-haired reality
star Donald Trump at one time polled better among Republicans
than camera-ready Romney.

Then on Saturday, voters in South Carolina proved so very
not into Romney that they embraced a suitor so monumentally
wrong that his nomination would be an epic catastrophe on the
scale of Barry Goldwater’s in 1964. Phones were buzzing by
Sunday morning as the party establishment called around to raise
money and raise a little hell. How could Romney let this happen?

Word was that Mitt had to end his Mittness, to somehow make
himself into a regular, likable guy and even get mad in the
process. To Washington Republicans, Gingrich is a soft target,
one Romney should have put away two surges ago. But political
personality changes are risky, like giving up a workable two-handed backhand before you’ve adapted to a one-handed version.
Romney is known to be frugal and to relate better to appliances
than people, but a trip to the laundry room of his hotel with a
packet of Tide, a camera and a son at his side to tweet about it
was so obviously staged that it invited ridicule. (Did the
machine take fifties?) Romney must stay, for better and worse,
Romney.

Home of Resentment

It’s not hard to understand why South Carolina fell hard
for a swashbuckling blowhard like Gingrich. The state is a
hotbed of the Tea Party (one of its founding fathers is
homegrown Republican Senator Jim DeMint), and it’s ground zero
for a hefty helping of resentment. Having grudgingly backed John
McCain in 2008 only to see him get whomped by Barack Obama,
South Carolina Republicans weren’t in the mood for a
“Massachusetts moderate.”

The home of Fort Sumter knows something about self-destructive impulses. Gingrich had them at “Hello,” or at
least at “No,” the word that began last week’s debate tirade
against CNN moderator John King, who had asked Gingrich if he
wanted to address his second wife’s allegation that Gingrich had
sought an open marriage. Oh, did he. Having stoked resentment of
the news media for more than four decades, Republican leaders
can’t fault Gingrich for perfecting the party’s game. His
defiance thrilled the Republican base, which proceeded to send a
message to the party elite about just who’s electable and who
isn’t.

In Florida, which is more diverse and less ideological than
South Carolina, cooler heads could prevail if Romney can exploit
his advantage in minions and millions. He has had the airwaves
largely to himself for weeks, accompanied by a superior
organization. Romney’s campaign is in attack mode now -- a sign
that the campaign shares the Washington insiders’ anxiety.

During Monday’s debate, Romney calmly defended his career
at Bain Capital LLC, and on Tuesday, he released his 2010 taxes.
(He is rich -- surprise! -- and paid an effective federal tax
rate of 13.9 percent, which will surely be grist for the general
election if Romney makes it there.)

Romney put Gingrich on the defensive for the first time in
weeks, defining him as a pure influence peddler whose clients
paid him to advance policies, including the Medicare
prescription drug benefit, that padded their bottom lines. Soon
after recounting how Gingrich “resigned in disgrace” from the
House of Representatives, however, Romney was gently referring
to Gingrich’s “record of great distress.” He’s no Jack the
Ripper.

Especially Cruel

Gingrich is. Millions of female voters will view Gingrich
not only as a serial adulterer, for which betrayal is just the
floor, but also as an especially cruel one. On a young
congressman’s salary, he claimed he couldn’t afford child
support. He had a six-year extramarital affair with a House
staff member half his age while he was prosecuting President
Bill Clinton for having an affair with an intern half his age.
He’s written novels that would embarrass Danielle Steel. I will
make a Romney-size bet that, even in an economy that favors a
challenger, Callista Gingrich will never be first lady.

There is also the matter of the organized religious right.
A group of prominent Christian conservatives gave a late,
ineffectual endorsement to former Senator Rick Santorum of
Pennsylvania. After Santorum’s poor showing in South Carolina,
those conservatives are cranking up their efforts. Were Gingrich
to win the Republican nomination, it would strip the last
vestiges of legitimacy from the movement built by Jerry Falwell,
Pat Robertson and their brimstone-bearing cohorts. How could
they preach family values alongside a Republican standard-bearer
who is on his third marriage? Christian forgiveness might get
you one do-over, but not a second.

Given the spectacular flaws of Gingrich, the race remains
Romney’s to lose. His efforts to display humanity are hampered
by Romney’s belief that everyone could have his fortune if only
they worked as hard as he has -- never mind growing up with
family wealth, a powerful father, the finest schools and a
gifted intellect. Posing as a regular Joe is awkward for him:
pretending he was pinched by a waitress, joking about being
unemployed and blurting out that he likes to fire people -- a
statement that many voters may fear is too close to the truth.

Romney might do his campaign -- and himself -- a favor by
spending time with some people who are suffering, many of them
conservative Republicans. They’re everywhere in Florida, where
unemployment is 9.9 percent and home foreclosures are rampant.
Maybe he could visit schools where homeless children valiantly
make it to class. He could meet parents who are ashamed in front
of their kids, for whom they still hope to make a better life.
Few envy his success; they could use his support. Maybe if he
broke out of his comfort zone and got to know a few, the
experience would help transform Mitt Romney into a man who could
understand, and lead, them.

(Margaret Carlson is a Bloomberg View columnist. The
opinions expressed are her own.)